Production method for portable data carriers

ABSTRACT

A method for producing a portable data carrier by means of a continuous production method, in particular a roll-to-roll method, includes the step of processing at least one foil in the form of roll goods. The unrolled foil is coated with an adhesive at least partially on at least one side. Subsequently, the foil is scored along at least one fold edge on at least one side of the foil. The foil is then folded along the scored fold edge in exact register and bonded. For this purpose the foil is folded in the direction of the side that is coated with adhesive, wherein the side coated with adhesive is arranged on the opposite side of the foil which has at least one scored fold edge, along which the folding is effected. Finally, data carriers are punched out in exact register from the at least one folded and bonded foil.

BACKGROUND

The invention describes a production method for portable data carriers.

Portable data carriers, such as e.g. SIM cards, credit cards, healthcards, identity cards, etc. are normally produced by aninjection-molding method or lamination method.

SIM cards are as a rule produced by an injection-molding method, whichis very expensive and means high material expenditure. The highexpenditure results from the circumstance that SIM cards are frequentlybroken out from cards in the ID-1 format. After the SIM card is brokenout, the largest part of the ID-1 card is consequently discarded.Moreover, the production of credit cards for example is quasi asingle-part production. The quasi single-part production results in asequential manual processing, which is very time-consuming andcost-intensive.

During the production of portable data carriers by means of a laminationmethod the components of the data carriers are subjected to great stressdue to high temperatures, e.g. of 120 to 160 degrees Celsius, and highpressures, e.g. of 100 to 250 bar. This frequently leads to a damage ofthe components such as e.g. antenna coils, chips. Components that aresensitive to such stresses, such as e.g. display elements, consequentlycannot be processed by means of a lamination method. Further, thelamination method takes a relatively long time until the various foillayers are permanently bonded with each other under pressure andtemperature.

SUMMARY

Proceeding from the state of the art, it is the object of the inventionto find a solution that avoids the above-described disadvantages.

In order to achieve this object, the invention discloses a method forproducing a portable data carrier by means of a continuous productionmethod. As first steps, at least one foil is made available in the formof roll goods, and at least one first foil is unrolled for the method.The at least one first foil is coated with an adhesive at leastpartially on at least one side. According to the invention, the adhesivecan be e.g. liquid or pasty. Further, the adhesive can also be processede.g. in the form of a double-sided adhesive tape or in any othersuitable form. Subsequently, at least the first foil is scored on atleast one side along at least one fold edge. After the scoring, at leastthe first foil is folded in exact register along at least one fold edgeand bonded. In so doing, the foil is folded such that the foil is foldedin the direction of the side that is coated with adhesive. The sidecoated with adhesive is arranged on the opposite side of the foil havingat least one scored fold edge along which the folding is effected. Thepresent solution is a very fast production method, since no longproduction times are required like in the case of the lamination method,since the foil is adhesively bonded. The pressure and temperature stressfor the at least one foil to be processed is likewise substantiallylower than in the lamination method, since here heat is transferred tothe foil only for a very short time during the application of the forexample liquid adhesive, wherein the adhesive cools very fast uponcontact with the foil, such that the heat can no longer impair e.g. theat least one foil or electronic components. A particular advantage ofthe invention is that a continuous production is made possible withoutinterruptions, meaning a high production speed and large numbers ofpieces per hour in connection therewith. With the present method it ispossible to produce for example 800 cards per minute in a verycost-effective and fast fashion. This high speed is achieved by aninline production with roll feeding. The method can have a modularstructure, thus making flexible production possible. The produced cardshave a high elasticity and consequently lower wear caused by bendingloads. A folding in exact register of the processed foil is madepossible by the invention. Further, the folding according to theinvention compensates tensions within the card, thus leading to a morestable product. The method at low temperatures and pressures accordingto the invention makes it possible to process sensitive components. Asfoils, cost-efficient standard materials can be utilized which do notneed to be suitable for lamination. By a combination according to theinvention of card production and e.g. digital printing, an extremelyfast and flexible card production is possible without producing aprinting form. This makes it possible to realize very small print runsin a short time. Further, a personalized inline card production ispossible due to the e.g. digitally printed foils. Additionally, aproduct coding per card can be integrated in the method, thus ensuringan exact traceability of the cards. The method according to theinvention is characterized by the advantages in particular for theproduction of SIM cards that it has high material savings, since theproduction can be effected directly in the SIM card format, and lesswaste is produced than, in comparison to the state of the art, by theproduction in the ID-1 format, and has a high production speed.Corresponding advantages are applicable analogously to the production ofe.g. credit cards or health cards. Great potentials for economies areprovided there by the invention in view of the production costs and theproduction time.

As an advantageous exemplary embodiment, at least one foil consists ofat least one foil ply. A foil structure of several plies makes itpossible to directly influence the properties of a foil, e.g. themechanical, electrical, chemical properties. In particular themechanical properties can thus be influenced in targeted fashion, e.g. acombination of foils can be chosen in view of a certain desiredelasticity.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment at least one second foilis bonded in exact register with the at least first foil. The greatadvantage of the invention is that theoretically any number of foils canbe bonded to each other in exact register. As a rule, the technicalapparatus effecting the method according to the invention represents thelimiting factor. It is thus made possible to bond several of the same ordifferent foils with each other in exact register.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment, at least the first foilis folded around the at least second foil or the at least second foil isfolded around the at least first foil. What is advantageous is that thusmultilayer foil structures can be produced from different foils. Therecan be more than two foils that are mutually bonded and folded, e.g.three or four foils, which are mutually bonded and folded.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment, the adhesive is ahot-melt adhesive. An advantage of the hot-melt adhesive is that thehot-melt adhesive is melted onto the foil immediately before applicationand is applied to the foil in a liquid state. The adhesive cools veryfast upon contact with the foil, such that any risk for componentssensitive to high temperatures is ruled out.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment, the adhesive sets whileincorporating water or moisture from the surrounding air, e.g. by meansof a polycondensation reaction. This type of adhesive has proven verysuitable in the tests, since it cools very fast and produces a veryreliable adhesive bonding and is easy to handle. An advantageousapplication of the adhesive is in the production of cards, such as e.g.credit cards. In particular in the production of SIM cards it isadvantageous and technically easy to realize to utilize a double-sidedadhesive tape instead of an adhesive. Advantageously, the double-sidedadhesive tape has an adhesive forming an adhesive connection as soon asthe adhesive is subjected to pressure, a so-called pressure sensitiveadhesive, abbreviated as PSA. Alternatively, the PSA can also beprocessed on its own, without double-sided adhesive tape.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment the utilized adhesivecompensates uneven areas or differences in height. This property can beused very advantageously in particular when e.g. electronic componentsare integrated, which inherently have a very small construction height,but the difference in height of which in comparison to the surroundingscan be compensated very easily by means of adhesive, in order to obtainan even surface for a further foil.

As a further advantageous embodiment at least one foil is printed. Afurther great advantage of the invention is that at least one foil canbe printed during the production process. This can be effected e.g. bymoving the at least one foil past the printer and printing it during themovement without stopping the at least one foil. Thus a very fastprinting is made possible without interrupting the course of production.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment a front and back sidedesign of a data carrier is printed on one side of at least one foil. Anadvantage of this is that at least one foil is printed on one side withboth the front and the back side design of a portable data carrier, e.g.a credit card. Subsequently for example the printed foil is foldedaround at least one further foil forming e.g. a core of a data carrier,and bonded with the core. This makes possible e.g. to effect theprinting of a foil and the production of a core for the data carrier inparallel, wherein in the end the printed foil is folded in exactregister around the core as an outer side and is bonded with said coreaccording to the invention.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment a digital printing methodis utilized for printing. The digital printing method makes possible avery fast and flexible printing of at least one foil. The greatadvantage of the digital printing method is that a printing form is notrequired. This makes it possible to process also very small print jobsfast. As an alternative to digital printing, also a roll offset printingmethod or a roll screen printing method can be utilized.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment at least one opening isincorporated in at least one foil. This is used advantageously when forexample elevations are to be compensated in order to obtain an evensurface again. For this purpose, the elevation is disposed within theopening of at least one foil.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment the at least one openingis produced by means of a laser and/or a punch. It is an advantage of alaser or a punch, in particular a rotating punch, that either can beincorporated in the production process without any problem. The laserand the punch are well suited to continuously process foil transportedpast during its movement, without the course of the production having tobe interrupted.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment at least one electroniccomponent is arranged on at least one foil. This makes possibleadvantageously the production of for example chip cards with the aid ofthe present invention.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment the electronic componentis a chip and/or a coil antenna and/or an ISO contact area fieldaccording to ISO 7810. This makes possible e.g. the production ofcontactless and/or contact-type chip cards with the aid of the presentmethod according to the invention. Besides the mentioned electroniccomponents all other suitable components can be made available for theproduction by means of a foil, e.g. display elements.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment at least one data carrieris punched in exact register from at least one folded and bonded foil.The great advantage of the invention is that after the production of acomposite, consisting of at least one folded and bonded foil, portabledata carriers can be punched out in exact register from the compositeduring the movement of the foil, e.g. by means of a rotating punch. Whatremains of the composite is for example a grid that is wound up suitablyand disposed of.

As a further advantageous exemplary embodiment the continuous productionmethod is a roll-to-roll method. The roll-to-roll method is the methodoffering the greatest advantages in the implementation of the presentinvention. At least one foil is made available in the form of rollgoods. The at least one foil is unwound and processed according to theinvention. After the processing, for example data carriers are punchedout from the composite or the composite is wound up on a roll again forfurther processing steps. When the data carriers have been punched outand removed from the composite, the remaining composite, e.g. in theform of a grid, is disposed of as waste.

In order to achieve the object, the invention further discloses anapparatus for performing the above-described method for producing aportable data carrier.

In order to achieve the object, the invention further discloses a datacarrier produced in accordance with the above-described method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, exemplary embodiments of the invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the attached figures.

FIGS. 1 to 3 describe method steps for a first exemplary embodiment ofthe invention for producing a card consisting of three layers.

FIG. 4 shows in principle the process according to the invention duringthe folding of a foil with reference to a two-step folding.

FIGS. 5 and 6 describe the method steps for a second exemplaryembodiment of the method according to the invention for producing a cardconsisting of five layers.

FIGS. 7 to 9 show possible structures of cards according to theinvention, consisting of three to five foil layers.

FIG. 10 schematically shows the production method of the invention bythe example of producing cards in the ID-1 format.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 to 3 describe method steps for a first exemplary embodiment ofthe invention for producing a card consisting of three layers.

The production method according to the invention is a continuousproduction method for portable data carriers, e.g. SIM cards, creditcards, etc. For this purpose, foils are made available in the form ofroll goods. The foils are unrolled and fed to the process. During theprocess the foils are for example moved at a speed in a range from 40 to100 m/min. In the process, the foils are coated with adhesive, joined inexact register and folded in exact register. Individual foils areconnected to form a composite, wherein the composite consists of atleast one foil. From the composite data carriers are punched out inexact register. The punched out data carriers are sorted into good andbad data carriers, e.g. by means of a gate. After the sorting the datacarriers are processed further, e.g. personalized or packed in magazinesor cardboard boxes for further processing steps.

As base material plastic foils in the form of web material in a rollformat of any type are possible, for example PVC, which is used e.g. forproducing credit cards. For the production of SIM cards for example ABSplastics can be utilized. As adhesive for example a single-component,reactive hot-melt adhesive is suitable, e.g. a so-called PUR hotmelt,since the hot-melt adhesive is easy to process and its price isrelatively inexpensive. For example for the production in particular ofSIM cards an adhesive can be used which effects a permanent bond whensubjected to pressure, e.g. a so-called pressure sensitive adhesive,abbreviated as PSA.

The data carriers produced with the method have an elastic behavior incomparison to laminated cards according to the state of the art.

The method will now be explained by the example of producing a SIM card.

At the start of the process, at least one foil is made available in theform of roll goods and is unrolled for the method, see step 2 in FIG. 1.The foil here is an opaque, i.e. light non-transmissive foil. Gaps arepunched into the foil web, so that e.g. a chip module can be inserted inthe place later on, see step 4. For punching out the gaps for example arotating punch, a water jet or a laser can be utilized. FIG. 4 shows anexample of a punched foil. The punching is followed by an at leastpartial or regional application of adhesive to the punched foil, seestep 6. The application of adhesive can be effected for example by meansof a wide slot nozzle. In this exemplary embodiment the punched,adhesive-coated foil is scored with two scoring knives, in order tofacilitate the subsequent folding process, see step 8. The scoring linescan be recognized e.g. in FIG. 4 in the dashed lines 54 and 56. Directlyafter the scoring the foil is folded for the first time along the firstscoring line and bonded, see step 10. After the first folding the foilhas two plies in an area, wherein a punching is disposed in one foilply. This can be recognized well for example in FIG. 4 in the area 60.For folding for example a so-called plow folder can be utilized. Thefirst folding process is followed immediately by the second foldingprocess. Also here, the foil is folded along the second scoring line andbonded, see step 12. The foil, which had only one ply at the start, hasnow become a composite consisting of three foil plies of a foil. Thegaps have come to lie above each other after the folding in such afashion that a chip module can be inserted in the thus created opening.The foil has now been sufficiently prepared for a chip module to beinserted in a gap in each case, see step 14. The production of the chipmodule is represented in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 2 a module roll is made available. The module roll is a foilroll on which for example chip modules are disposed. The foil roll hasthe function of a carrier in particular, on the surface of whichoptionally components are arranged, e.g. antenna coils. Alternatively,the components can also be arranged within the carrier. Other electroniccomponents, such as e.g. an antenna coil, can also be disposed on thefoil. The foil here serves as a carrier band for the modules, see step18. As described in FIG. 1, also here a side of the carrier band, herethe back side, is coated with adhesive, see step 20. The modules arepunched out from the carrier band e.g. by means of a rotating punch, seestep 22. The punched out, single modules are arranged on a divertingroll, in order to adapt the spacing between the modules on the divertingroll to the spacing between the gaps on the foil of FIG. 1 for the laterfixation of the modules in the foil of FIG. 1, see step 24.

Now the modules can be inserted in exact register in the gaps of thefoil of FIG. 1, FIG. 1, see step 14. Optionally, before inserting themodules in the gaps, an additional adhesive can be fed into the gaps, inorder to securely fix the modules. The modules are fixed in the gaps bymeans of the adhesive layer on the back side, see step 16. For thefurther process, two alternatives are represented in FIG. 3.

In the first alternative cards, e.g. SIM cards, are punched out at leastpartially from the composite with the fixed modules, wherein the cardsare not yet completely detached from the composite or the punched gridcontaining them, see step 28. The purpose of not completely punching outthe cards is that the cards can then be further processed more easily,e.g. when the cards are personalized, than when the cards are alreadydetached completely from the punched grid, see step 30. Only after afurther processing are the cards detached completely from the punchedgrid and removed therefrom, see step 32, in order to sort the cards intomagazines for example. After step 32 the cards are sorted into good andbad cards in step 36, and the bad cards are discarded or separated bymeans of e.g. a gate. Bad cards are understood as cards with productionfaults, which also include functional defects. The good cards, that isthe cards without production faults and with full function, are sortedin step 38 e.g. according to variants and/or sorted into magazines viae.g. a conveyor belt. Production faults can be in particular faults ofthe shape or function of the card or of the card's design. Functionalfaults can be e.g. a defective chip or a defective antenna coil, whichis determined e.g. by means of an electrical checking device. A designfault can be e.g. a misprint of the design, which is detected e.g. bymeans of image processing.

The second alternative describes in step 34 a rotating punching out andremoval of the cards from the punched grid. The cards are punched out inexact register. Subsequently, the cards are further processed as alreadydescribed above in steps 36 and 38.

FIG. 4 shows in principle the process according to the invention duringthe folding of a foil by the example of a two-step folding. A foil 40 istransported in the machine running direction 42 during the process. Thefoil 40 here has three areas 44, 46 and 48. The areas 44 and 48 eachhave several gaps 50 and 52 punched into the foil 40. The gaps 50 and 52serve for forming a gap into which a module, e.g. a chip module, isinserted. The areas 44 and 46 are coated with adhesive. Before thefolding according to the invention of the foil 40, two scoring lines 54and 56 are scored into the foil 40, in order to facilitate thesubsequent folding. First, the area 48 is folded in the direction 58along the scoring line 56, so that the area 48 comes to lie in exactregister on the adhesive-coated area 46 and is bonded with the same. Thethus created area 60 consists of two plies and has the gaps 52 on itssurface. Next, the area 44 is folded in exact register in the direction62 along the scoring line 54 onto the area 60 and bonded with the same.In the area 64 a foil with three plies has been created now. The areas44, 46 and 48 have been folded onto each other in exact register andhave been mutually bonded, such that for example the gaps 50 and 52 havecome to lie exactly above each other. Tensions in the created card arecanceled out by the method of the invention by an odd number offoldings, e.g. simple or triple folding. Orientations which are possiblypresent in the at least one foil are offset by the folding according tothe invention. A curvature or warpage of the product resulting therefromis avoided thereby. In addition to the above-described method it ispossible to introduce and also bond a further foil in exact registerduring the folding. Consequently, structures of several foil plies andadhesive layers can be realized. This is interesting in particular whengaps are required on different levels, independently of the materialthickness of a foil.

FIGS. 5 and 6 describe the method steps for a second exemplaryembodiment of the method of the invention for producing a cardconsisting of five layers.

In FIG. 5, step 66, a transparent, i.e. light-transmissive overlay foilis made available in the form of roll goods and is unrolled for themethod. The overlay foil is arranged on at least one outer side of thecard. Alternatively, also an opaque overlay foil can be utilized.

On one side of the foil a design of a front and back side of a datacarrier is printed by means of a digital printing method, see step 68.In principle, the foil can be printed partially or all over from theroll. Besides the digital printing method, alternatively for exampleprinting with metallic inks or special inks in the screen printing oroffset method are possible. After printing the foil, in step 70 at leastone magnetic strip is applied on the side of the foil opposite that onwhich the design was printed. Optionally the magnetic strip can also beapplied to the side on which the design was printed. The magnetic stripcan be arranged on either of the outside and the inside of the card. Incase that several or different designs were applied to the foil, thefoil is cut into webs in step 72, such that every web bears one singledesign consisting of a front and a back side. After the cutting the foilor possibly the webs are rolled up again in step 74, in order to furtherprocess them later. Alternatively to step 74 the foil or the webs canalso be further processed directly without rolling up. Here the overlayfoil is further processed with an internal foil in step 80, FIG. 6. Theinternal foil is a foil arranged within the card, which is also referredto as core foil. In the case that a component is arranged on theinternal foil, e.g. an antenna coil or a chip, this is called an inlayfoil.

In step 76, FIG. 6, the internal foil is made available according to theinvention in the form of roll goods and is unrolled for the process. Inthis example the internal foil is opaque. After unwinding the foil, instep 78 an adhesive layer is applied to one side of the internal foil,for example by means of a wide slot nozzle. In step 80 then the internalfoil and the overlay foil of step 74 are for example mutually connectedor joined in exact register and mutually bonded. The overlay foil isunrolled from the roll again for this purpose and made available to theprocess in step 80. To the composite or the foil, consisting of theinternal foil and the overlay foil, another adhesive layer is applied instep 82, for example on the side of the internal foil. Subsequently, thefoil, consisting of the internal foil and the overlay foil, in step 84is scored for example on that side which is opposite the side that isbonded with itself after the folding, such that after the folding andthe bonding there is an outward facing, scored side disposed opposite aninward facing fold edge, about which the folding takes place, and instep 86 is connected and bonded during the folding of the foil in exactregister with an inlay foil that is unwound from a roll and madeavailable to the process in step 88. In step 90, a card as data carrieris punched out, e.g. by means of a laser or a rotating punch, from thefoil consisting of the transparent overlay foil, the opaque internalfoil and the internal foil of step 88. For punching out, any suitablemethod can be utilized, e.g. also cutting with a water jet. The punchedout cards are sorted in step 92 into good cards, i.e. fit for use, andbad cards, i.e. not fit for use, e.g. by means of a gate. The good cardsare then sorted in step 94 into magazines in accordance with theirvariants, e.g. by means of conveyor belts.

Before materials are fed like e.g. in step 80, a punching process can beintegrated in order to give a foil to be processed a certain outer shapeor in order to punch out areas within the foil.

Before the joining and connecting of at least two foils, here in step86, heating elements can be disposed for reactivating the adhesive.

When the adhesive is applied, e.g. in step 78 or 82, different adhesivesand application thicknesses of adhesive can be present, in order to e.g.compensate uneven areas in the material or in order to bond differentmaterials.

In step 66 or before step 90 an additional printing module, e.g. aninkjet printer with fluorescent ink or normal ink, is possible, whichapplies a coding per card for tracing or control purposes. After step 90then a reader reads the coding that is e.g. invisible for the human eye,and sorts the cards e.g. via a gate control, guiding them to certainmagazines or boxes.

In step 90 not only the punching out of an outer contour is possible,but also the punching out of any shapes, including gaps within the card.

For production, in principle any width of roll goods is possible, thewidth being ultimately limited only by the machine on which the methodis performed. However, this also means that per foil web e.g. two orthree cards are processed and ultimately punched out next to each otherin parallel. The machine only has to be adapted accordingly. However,this is of substantial advantage in view of the piece numbers and thespeed of card production.

As an alternative to unrolling and making available a foil from a rolllike in step 66 or 76, an extrusion installation can be connecteddirectly with the process, such that, e.g. via a wide slot nozzle, foilmaterial specially extruded for a job is fed to the process inline.

In principle, highly different roll goods and materials from a roll canbe processed. Therein, at least one foil ply can be processed, e.g. two,three or four plies.

FIGS. 7 to 9 show possible structures of cards according to theinvention consisting of three to five foil layers.

FIG. 7 discloses a three-ply structure of a card body consisting of foilply 1 a, 1 b and foil ply 2, wherein the foil ply 1 was folded aroundthe foil ply 2. The foil ply 2 here forms an inner foil ply or aso-called middle layer. The foil ply 1 is a transparent foil provided onits inside with respectively a front and a back side of a design printof a card. The two foil plies are mutually connected with the adhesivelayers 1 a and 1 b. The adhesive layers 1 a and 1 b are likewise anadhesive layer which was folded around the foil ply 2.

FIG. 8 shows a four-ply structure of a card body. FIG. 8 differs fromFIG. 7 in that it has two foil plies 2 a and 2 b arranged within thecard. On the surface of and/or within the foil plies 2 a and 2 bcomponents can be arranged, e.g. antenna coils, chip, etc. A furtherdifference to FIG. 7 is that the inner foil plies 2 a and 2 b areprinted instead of the outer foil. Here the foil ply 2 was folded onceand bonded with itself, such that the foil plies 2 a and 2 b form partof one foil ply 2. The foil ply 1 was folded in exact register aroundthe folded foil ply 2. To the foil plies 1 a and 1 b the same isapplicable as to the foil ply 2.

FIG. 9 discloses a five-layer structure of a card body. The structurehas two outer foil plies 1 and 2 and an additional inner foil ply 3 andrespectively two printed layers. The foil plies 1 a and 1 b are one foilply which was folded. This is applicable correspondingly to the foilplies 2 a and 2 b. In FIG. 9 both an interior metallic print/designprint is arranged on the foil ply 2 and an interior design print with afront and back side in each case is arranged on the foil ply 1.

FIG. 10 schematically shows the production method of the invention bythe example of producing cards in the ID-1 format. A foil 66 is fed tothe production process from a roll. As described above, the foil 66 isfirst scored along a fold edge 80 and then an adhesive, not shown inFIG. 10, is applied on one side of the foil 66 to the area 68 or thearea 70. Alternatively, it is also possible to first apply the adhesiveto the foil 66 and to then score the foil 66. Here the foil 66 is foldedonce, such that the area 68 along the fold edge 80 is folded onto thearea 70. In the area 70 cards 72 are provided in the ID-1 format, whichare punched out from the foil 66 along a punch contour 74 at the end ofthe production process. The foil 66 is moved in a production direction76 during the production. After folding and bonding of the foil 66 atwo-layer composite 78 has been created. The composite 78 can then befurther processed by e.g. printing a design on a side of the card 72. Adifferent possibility of further processing of the composite 78 would bee.g. that the cards 72 are punched out from the composite 78 at the endof the production process.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for producing a portable datacarrier, the apparatus comprising: a first roller for feeding a foilmaterial, a punch tool for creating openings in predetermined areas ofthe foil material, at least one scoring knife configured to score thefoil material along a predetermined path, a slot nozzle configured toapply an adhesive to the foil material in a predetermined area, and aplow folder configured to fold the foil material in at least onedirection.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, the apparatus furthercomprising a digital printer configured to print on the foil material.3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a secondroller for rolling the foil material in a roll-to-roll method.
 4. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the punch tool includes arotating punch, a water jet, or a laser.
 5. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the plow folder is configured to fold the foil materialin at least two directions.
 6. An apparatus for producing a portabledata carrier, the apparatus comprising: an extrusion installation forproviding a foil material, a punch tool for creating openings inpredetermined areas of the foil material, at least one scoring knifeconfigured to score the foil material along a predetermined path, a slotnozzle configured to apply an adhesive to the foil material in apredetermined area, a plow folder configured to fold the foil materialin at least one direction.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, theapparatus further comprising a digital printer configured to print onthe foil material.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein thepunch tool a rotating punch, a water jet, or a laser.
 9. The apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the plow folder is configured to fold thefoil material in at least two directions.
 10. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the first roller feeds the foil material, the foilmaterial having an upper face and a lower face, the foil materialincluding a first portion and a second portion, and the plow folderfolds the foil material such that the upper face of the first portion isdirected to the upper face of the second portion when the foil materialis in a folded state.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, whereinthe punch tool creates the openings and the plow folder folds the foilmaterial such that the foil material is folded in exact register suchthat first openings provided in the first portion of the foil materialalign with predetermined positions in the second portion of the foilmaterial.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein secondopenings are provided in the predetermined positions in the secondportion of the foil material such that the first openings align with thesecond openings in exact register.
 13. The apparatus according to claim6, wherein the extrusion installation provides the foil material, thefoil material having an upper face and a lower face, the foil materialincluding a first portion and a second portion, and the plow folderfolds the foil material such that the upper face of the first portion isdirected to the upper face of the second portion when the foil materialis in a folded state.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, the punchtool positions the openings, and the plow folder folds the foilmaterial, such that the foil material is folded in exact register suchthat first openings provided in the first portion of the foil materialalign with predetermined positions in the second portion of the foilmaterial.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein secondopenings are provided in the predetermined positions in the secondportion of the foil material such that the first openings align with thesecond openings in exact register.
 16. An apparatus for producing aportable data carrier, the apparatus comprising: a foil provider thatprovides a foil material, a puncher that creates openings inpredetermined areas of the foil material, a scorer that scores the foilmaterial along a predetermined path, a nozzle that applies an adhesiveto the foil material in a predetermined area, and a plow folder thatfolds fold the foil material in at least one direction.
 17. Theapparatus according to claim 16, wherein the foil provider provides thefoil material, the foil material having an upper face and a lower face,the foil material including a first portion and a second portion, andthe plow folder folds the foil material such that the upper face of thefirst portion is directed to the upper face of the second portion whenthe foil material is in a folded state.
 18. The apparatus according toclaim 17, the punch tool positions the openings, and the plow folderfolds the foil material, such that the foil material is folded in exactregister such that first openings provided in the first portion of thefoil material align with predetermined positions in the second portionof the foil material.
 19. The apparatus according to claim 18, whereinsecond openings are provided in the predetermined positions in thesecond portion of the foil material such that the first openings alignwith the second openings in exact register.